


Reset

by thetreesgrowodd



Category: Toy Story Series (Movies)
Genre: Aftermath, Community: disney_kink, Heart-to-Heart, Multi, Pull Strings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-04
Updated: 2010-09-04
Packaged: 2017-10-11 11:38:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/112027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetreesgrowodd/pseuds/thetreesgrowodd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Buzz deals with his experience of being forcibly reset.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reset

Little footsteps moved away. The door swung slowly, creaking on its hinges, but stopped several inches short of closing. Woody, who was limply slumped over an inanimate Buzz on top of the dresser, held his figurative breath and listened for clear signs that Bonnie and her Mother were going out. All of the toys really needed some kid-free time, after Bonnie's slumber party.

On the floor, Jessie poked her head out from under a pillow. "Yee—"

"Shh!" Woody silenced her quickly. Bonnie and her Mother could walk back in at any second.

Jessie pouted at him theatrically, but obeyed. Kind of. "—Haw!" she mouthed silently, doing a slow motion air punch.

Under him, Buzz's chest rose and fell with silent laughter. Traitor. He was sprawled like a turtle on its back with his limbs stiffly sticking out. One of Woody's floppy legs had accidentally caught on Buzz's hand and was pointing toward the ceiling in a really undignified way. In the early days of their friendship, Woody had wondered if it was uncomfortable to be so hard and stiff all the time, but now he was used to it.

More footsteps. Mom saying something about visiting a relative for lunch and then doing some shopping. Good, that sounded like it would take a while. The front door opened and shut and the room exploded with a frenzy of movement and sound.

Woody scooted off of Buzz, still listening hard for the sounds of the car starting and pulling away. Something plopped down on his head and over his eyes. His hat. Woody pushed the brim back up and turned to see Buzz stepping up to the edge of the dresser, signaling to the toys below to listen.

"All right, that was a rough one, but we did a great job and got through it. A+. Gold stars all around. Round of applause." Buzz proclaimed, his deep voice effortlessly cutting through the din and commanding attention. "Everyone get some rest and let's be in tip-top shape for late afternoon playtime."

Leave it to Buzz to step up and do Woody's job. It had annoyed him once. Then he'd realized that Buzz acted like a leader because he naturally was one, not because he was competing with Woody. Besides, Buzz usually said what Woody would have said anyway.

"Well, that was quite the challenge," Buzz commented quietly to Woody.

"I'll say. Did you see how hard that girl yanked my string?" He grasped the ring on his upper back feeling for damage.

"I was too busy noticing that cheap knockoff Barbie doll she brought along."

"Buzz. We don't say 'knockoff.' The correct phrase is 'differently licensed.'"

"Yeah, well," Buzz grinned crookedly, "I think she'd have liked pulling your string too." Buzz clapped him on the back and climbed down the side of the dresser.

Woody surveyed the room. They were falling into comfortable routeins and recognizable patterns here in their new environment. Her favorite games for them to play, the new roles she put them in. The unique needs of a young child that they had forgotten about over the last decade.

Woody felt a bittersweet nostalgia for the days when Andy was very young and had needed him so much. But he loved Bonnie already, almost in spite of himself. Not that he hadn't wanted to love her, nothing that dramatic. Just that his love for her had washed over him gently, gradually, until it was an undeniable, and wonderful, and slightly surprising fact. This was their true home now.

"Sheriff Woody," said Buttercup, over to one side.

"I told you it's just Woody, now what can I do for you, partner?"

Buttercup had brought him a lost toy, left by one of the girls. Woody was so intent on reassuring the terrified doll that yes she would be reunited with her owner — he understood that, having himself been a lost toy a time or three — that he missed the ruckus between Jessie and Buzz until it had gotten out of control.

He had been gradually aware of the ambient din getting louder, but didn't register it until they were full out shouting. And these weren't the usual tones of the two strong willed toys not seeing eye to eye, either. This was panicked and furious. He turned to see them struggling on the floor with a circle of toys around them. Woody slid down to the floor on the lamp's power cord.

"Guys! Break it up! Break it up!" Woody shouted, running toward them. Why did the floor have to be so huge? The other toys backed off then, looking guilty. He got a clear look at Jessie sitting on Buzz's back, trying to use a hairpin to push his reset button, while his arms and legs flailed. Buzz managed to get to his feet and give Jessie a good shove. She staggered back a few steps, then tackled Buzz hard from behind. Her full weight hit the open door to his battery compartment which creaked then snapped sharply. Jessie gasped and looked blankly at the piece of plastic she held which had previously been attached to Buzz.

Buzz spun and trained his laser on her reflexively. The red pinpoint of light blinked on her chest.

The room went dead quiet and still. For an endless moment, Woody running toward them, frantic to see how bad the damage really was, was the only movement in the entire room.

"It was an accident!" Jessie said, sounding stunned. "I didn't mean to."

"Stay back!" Buzz ordered.

"Don't aim that at me!" Jessie cried with a stamp of her boot.

"Now Buzz, just stay calm," Woody said in an even voice. He motioned to some of the nearby toys. "Guys help me reset Buzz."

"No!" Buzz barked. "I don't need to be reset! I know who I am!" He jerked around to turn the laser on Woody. The abrupt movement caused both of his batteries to fly out of the open compartment and roll away. Without dropping the now useless laser, Buzz tested the three small buttons on his chest one by one. They did nothing. Bullseye cowered behind Jessie.

Woody raised his hands calmingly. "Buzz, are you sure you're ok? You remember who we are?"

"Of course I do!"

"Well it's just that you're aiming a weapon at us..."

"I don't need to be reset, Woody," Buzz said with extra emphasis and clarity.

"You didn't actually switch him?" Woody asked Jessie.

"No! He completely flipped out before I could do anything!"

"This is how you don't do anything?" Buzz shouted, picking up one of his batteries without taking his eyes off of them. "I've got a gaping hole in my back and nothing works anymore!" He punched the button for the laser.

"It was just for fun! Why do you have to ruin it like this?" Jessie asked, heatedly.

"Buzz, now, Jessie didn't mean to. I haven't seen you this freaked out in—" Woody began.

"Not you too." Buzz shot Woody a look of betrayal, then turned and ran. Even with the battery, he was able to climb up into Bonnie's backpack which was hanging on a high hook.

"Why does he have to be like that?" Jessie cried, hurt. She put her arms around Bullseye's neck and hid her face.

"Jessie, let me talk to him. I'll clear things up."

Totoro stepped forward and placed the second battery in Woody's hands. Woody picked up the battery cover and took a moment to really look at it. Nothing was cracked. It appeared to be hinged in a way that allowed it to come cleanly apart without breaking. That didn't mean that there wasn't damage to Buzz himself, but Woody felt hopeful that no physical harm had been done. Now he just had to figure out the emotional and mental harm.

Buzz's hiding place was well chosen. Few toys were dexterous enough to make the climb. Woody scrambled up with some difficulty, the battery cover and battery under his arm. He paused next to the bag. If he could climb up, Jessie could. With sudden inspiration, Woody called down to the toys on the floor, "I want complete privacy, understand. I don't want any toys coming up here. Got it? Rex, Trixie, you're on lookout for me."

"Roger!" said the dinosaurs, attempting to salute.

"Buzz. It's me. I'm coming in." There was no reply, so Woody unzipped the bag and crawled in. Buzz was sitting at the far end, giving off a soft green light. Woody sat down next to him and set down the two objects like peace offerings. "I think I can fix it. Want me to try?"

"What's the point? Maybe you should just reset me."

"Hey, come on. Jessie, she didn't mean… Jessie's a bit rambunctious at times. As I know all too well." Woody recalled being beaten up shortly after meeting Jessie, when he was one-armed and unable to fight back. "But she does it because she likes you."

Buzz heaved a sigh.

"Well I guess you're embarrassed because of her attention. It's ok, it's normal, me and Bo… For what it's worth, I approve of the two of you. If you want to, you know, get together. I think you'd be great," Woody said, grandly.

Buzz laughed bitterly and waved his hand dismissively. "That's not the issue."

"Then what is?" Woody pressed. He'd seen Buzz in a funk like this a few times and physical contact seemed to help. He grasped Buzz's wrist.

Buzz's face hardened and he stood up quickly. "There is no issue," he said with bravado. "It was some kind of temporary insanity. Maybe my batteries were in backwards. I'll go out and apologize to everybody."

Woody scrambled to his feet, between Buzz and the exit. He held up one hand to halt Buzz, and held the zipper pull with the other.

"Step aside, Sheriff. We both know you can't stop me. I'm stronger than you."

Woody stared him down. Buzz's posture wilted and he plopped back down. "But they were stronger than me…"

Trying to hear Buzz's soft words, Woody knelt next to him.

"I never even considered the possibility that… other toys would…"

Woody grasped Buzz's shoulder, but Buzz flinched a little.

"They held me down. They opened me up, and they changed me. That's the issue," Buzz said in a defeated voice. "They knew exactly what to do, and I never even saw it coming. I didn't know it was possible. They saw me as disposable, like whatever's in here doesn't matter." He slapped his chest. "Like the thoughts I would lose didn't matter. In those last seconds I realized what was happening. And I knew that you were gone, and all my thoughts and memories of you were being ripped away, and we'd never get another chance."

Woody digested Buzz's words with quiet horror, mixed with a humbled awe at how important he was to his friend, but he forced his words to sound light. "But we did. I'm here. You know us, everything always works out."

"I'm grateful." Buzz gave him a long look. "But it doesn't change the fact that it can happen again at any time. All it takes is someone stronger than me, or sneakier than me… someone with the patience to wait for me to drop my guard."

"Jessie wasn't going to do —"

"Her reason was still selfish, just like Lotso's —"

"That may be, but —"

"None of the rest of you have this." Buzz gestured toward the open compartment on his back. "How could any of you understand?"

It was true. Woody didn't understand what it was like anymore than he understood having wings or a flashy lightbulb in his arm or being made of hard plastic. Part of what made Buzz such a cool toy also gave him such a great vulnerability. Woody knew vulnerability. He also knew that his friend was in pain, and he wanted to do whatever he could to help. "We shouldn't treat each other as playthings," Woody said at length. "I'll make sure all of them understand that. We have fun together — not one at the expense of another. You were… it sounds awful to say it like this, but you were kind of fun when you were changed. I don't know how much of it you remember, but that's all Jessie wanted. I prefer the real McCoy, myself."

After a long silence, Woody prompted, "Buzz?"

Buzz picked up the white piece of plastic, look at it, then held it out. "Fix me." Woody took it solemnly, and Buzz shifted around so that his back was to Woody. "I trust you."

"This doesn't look too bad." But Woody's hands were shaking with emotion. He tried to keep his movements gentle and light, but Buzz jumped when Woody's hand brushed his open battery compartment. Woody sat back on his heels, thinking hard. Then he grasped the ring on his own back and reeled out the string

"What are you…?" Buzz looked back over his shoulder.

"I know I'm not built like you, but this is as close as I get." He thrust the ring into Buzz's fingers and manually closed them tight on it. "You hang on to that and we'll be as close to even as possible. Hang on to it and know that I trust you too."

Buzz smiled at the gesture and leaned forward, giving Woody full access. Woody held the piece in position and examined the hinge, wondering how best to pop it into place. "I may have to use some force, ok?"

"I remember some of it, but it's vague." Buzz said picking up an earlier line from the conversation as a distraction. "Like I remember my days at the academy. It happened to me, but not to me."

Woody stood up to get better leverage. He pressed down firmly on the plastic, but the hinge didn't click back together.

"I knew all my missions, but in Spanish." Buzz shook his head in wonder. "And dancing. And… did I kiss you?"

Woody's boot slipped on the lining of the backpack and his weight fell forward onto Buzz. With a sharp snap the plastic hinges popped back together. He stood up and adjusted his hat and inspected his handiwork. "Yes. Yes you did," he said evenly. "Whew, I think I got it." He experimentally shut the compartment. It moved on its hinges easily, and lined up correctly. He picked up the batteries and was just getting the second one put in when he felt something unexpected.

Buzz caressed the plastic ring in his hands. It sent a jolt through Woody, who never really thought of it as a part of himself. Buzz's hands were gentle and evoked a surprising amount of sensation. He probably wasn't even aware he was doing it, though, after all, Buzz was jittery. Trying not to think about it, he closed the cover and patted it. "There, good as new. How you feeling there, buddy?"

Buzz turned to look at him as he pressed one of his buttons. The cheesy voice spoke out of his chest, "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!" He released the ring then and the string pulled itself in with a scratchy, "Reach for the sky."

"'Reach for the sky.' That's what I'm all about." Buzz tapped Woody's chest lightly.

"Ready to head back out?" Woody asked, regretfully. He would have liked to stay here with Buzz, but there was a roomful of toys out there missing their two leaders.

"Wait. There's one more important thing I need to tell you," Buzz said urgently. "But it's too hard to talk about. We'll have to mind-meld." He held up a hand with a strange gesture.

"Mind… meld…?" Woody sat down. He felt uncertain, but if Buzz needed him to do this, he would. "All right, I'm ready." He shut his eyes and felt the 'floor' shift under them as Buzz knelt. Thick fingers traced across his cheek affectionately.

"Ha! Mind-meld! I never thought you'd fall for that one!" Buzz laughed and jumped to his feet jovially.

"What? Oh!" Woody glared and clutched his hat as Buzz brushed past him in the tight space. "You and your spaceman nonsense!"

Buzz paused with his hand on the zipper, his face growing serious again. "Thank you."

Woody knew Buzz wasn't ok. It would take time to come to terms with his own vulnerability and the fact that some other toys might be capable of preying upon it. But Woody would be with him. And he'd defend his friend with all the strength his soft, floppy body possessed. "Any time."

"If you want a kiss, just ask. I don't have to be in Spanish mode to do that." With a wink, Buzz opened the zipper and crawled out before Woody could react.

Half in a huff at being teased, half giddy with the thought of it, Woody followed him.


End file.
